London Calling: London Day One

So here I am across the pond, in the motherland, land of hope of glory, or just London to most of you. You didn't really expect me to stay put in Seattle for that long, did you? I am admitting to a full-fledged case of Adult Onset ADD, which may explain my insatiable wanderlust. Except that in my case my ADD only applies to traveling, because in most other aspects of my life I am still quite lazy.

Anyway, I landed in London yesterday after a smooth nine-hour direct flight from Seattle. Love direct flights. Love 'em. As S and J and I always assert, that falls under the category of "You know you're a grown-up when...you are not too cheap to pay the extra money to save yourself the PainInTheArse of transferring planes." However, I am too cheap to pay the 50 pound taxi fare from Heathrow to central London (and for those of you following along at home, the dollar to pound conversion is now two-to-one. Ouch.) So I bought an Oyster seven-day travelcard and hopped on the tube to my hotel. Fortunately, it was a direct shot to my tube stop, no changing, and only took about 35 minutes. From there, a five minute walk to my hotel. My hotel is lovely, "small" by BigAss American standards but just right for the rest of the world. Being the savvy traveler that I am, I promptly called the front desk and asked them to empty my mini-bar, then headed across the street to Sainsbury's and stocked up on snacks and beverages to fill up my fridge with.


By the way, have I mentioned that the British grocery store is one of my favorite places ever?! Well, it is. I am so happy to be reunited with my cheese and onion crisps, Hobnobs, Lilt drink, and Cadburys.